Beautiful Creatures and Hail, Caesar! star Alden Ehrenreich, 28, plays young Han in Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25). The rascally space smuggler meets his co-pilot, Chewbacca, and galactic gambler Lando Calrissian in this prequel to the original 1977 Star Wars.

What can fans look forward to?

You meet Han at a different stage in his life and get to watch how he becomes who he becomes. It feels a little bit like a biopic. There are a lot of classic genres to which the film tips its hat—noir and Western elements—but, most fundamentally, it’s a high adventure yarn in the tradition of great swashbuckling movies.

Did you speak to Harrison Ford, the original Han?

We had lunch, but we didn’t talk much about the movie. I was mainly interested in his career, his journey as an actor and how he’s navigated all of that. He was very supportive. He gave me his vote of confidence, so that was really awesome.

When I was a little kid, it was Westerns. I watched a lot of John Wayne movies. Then I went to a middle school that had a great film program, and I fell in love with the movies of the ’70s—The Godfather, Five Easy Pieces and Klute. I also was drawn to post–World War II dramas with Paul Newman, Marlon Brando and James Dean, and movies by [directors] Elia Kazan and William Wyler.

You beat out in the neighborhood of 3,000 actors for the role. What does that even begin to feel like?

It’s very weird. It’s hard to wrap your head around that, really. That’s the number I heard. Early on when I first read for it, I knew every person and their landlord was going to be reading for it. So I thought, Well, this is a real long shot and I’m going to approach it like I would approach anything else, really.

Did you have a specific idea of how you wanted to play it?

Not that I could exactly describe. I really tried to make it as much as I could like any other character and I tried to make it personal. That’s pretty much it. It’s a lot of work, but it’s the same job with a few other little considerations.

You’ve worked with Francis Ford Coppola, George Clooney, Warren Beatty and Cate Blanchett. These are really talented people, but this could be the biggest thing in your career yet. Are you ready for it?

I don’t know how one would be ready for it. You don’t know ’til you get there is my impression of it. As much as I can be, I try to keep my eye on the ball in terms of what I’m really interested in and not get too swept up in things. Luckily, it has been gradual. I’ve been auditioning since I was 14, so it’s been about 15 years. I’ve had a chance to ease into all this. It’s not like right out of the blue, but time will tell.

Did you collect any Star Wars merchandise as a kid? Were you a fan?

Oh, yeah, sure. I had all the toys and stuff as a kid, yeah. Yeah, very much so.

Do you have a favorite film or moment from the franchise?

There’s so many. To me, the seminal moment is Han coming back during the Battle of Yavin and saving Luke at the last minute [in the original film]. I still remember the way that felt to watch as a kid. That was such a thrilling and exciting moment. So I’d say that moment is probably the quintessential thing, but as I got older, I really have come to love Yoda a lot too.

I feel like what George Lucas created, as a result of his background and the fact that he was aware of [renowned mythologist] Joseph Campbell, is based on our whole human history of storytelling and myths. It has this depth to it underneath the spectacle, which is so phenomenal. There’s very deep human issues, ancient myths and stories that are underneath it. I think that the characters are so special as is the way he created the world.

We’ve all grown up with it and there’s just something about it that captures the hearts of people. Beautiful Creatures is probably the only other movie I’ve done that’s a big-scale movie in this way. I feel so honored and lucky to be a part of something that’s not only big and has the excitement of an action movie, but also people’s hearts are so invested in. There’s such a personal connection that people have to it and there’s such heart to the franchise. That’s what I feel the most when I watch the original movies.

You once said something to the effect that the films you want to make are films of value in the world of people, not necessarily in the world of art. Does that sum up your take on filmmaking?

I probably did say something like that a long time ago. What I feel now is that it is important to me that the stories and the movies that I am a part of are communicating something of value to people in their actual lives. Every movie, even if it’s something that seems really light, is shaping the way people think about things and shaping the way people approach things in their lives. So I try to make sure that the movies and the stories that I’m a part of have their heart is in the right place and that they’re talking to people’s experience in a way that is of value.

You mentioned you started auditioning at age 14. How did you know so young that this was what you wanted to do?

I was always doing plays. It was so much a part of who I was from such a young age, playing dress-up, pretending to be a cowboy as a kid, and all these various things. Then I fell into it professionally when I was 14, but I didn’t really work or have a career until I was at the end of high school, and then really not until after college. My parents used to do these little film festivals in our house and we’d watch all these different old movies. So it all really came from a love of classic movies, and wanting to be a part of that.

Do you have a follow-up to Solo yet?

No, I don’t. It was a two-year process of working on it pretty straight through. So as of now, I’m just taking some time and spending it with people.

A while back you started a theater group, The Collectin. Is theater an important part of your career?

I really love it. I love going to it and it doesn’t feel that distinctly different to me. Film is my first love. But it’s something I’d like to do more of. That theater group was also a way of meeting other actors, experimenting and playing around with the different techniques that I’ve learned since my first movie with Francis Ford Coppola [Tetro] and what we were learned at NYU. I’d like to do something like that again at some point.

Any interest in going behind the camera?

Yeah. Right now, I’m editing a short film that I made. One of the feelings that I have, too, is I’ve gotten so lucky in being able to work with so many great directors. It has been kind of a film school. That’s definitely something I’m pursuing now.

AMG/Parade Digital

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